Police in northern Virginia have arrested a man accused of stealing memorial signs for victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Authorities say 28-year-old Andrew Truelove was motivated by a belief that the Sandy Hook shootings were a hoax.

Herndon police say one sign was stolen from Mystic, Connecticut, and the other was stolen from a playground in Mantoloking, New Jersey.

They were both dedicated to Chase Kowalski and Grace McDonnell, two of the 20 first-graders killed in the 2012 massacre.

Two missing Sandy Hook memorial signs have been recovered in Herndon, Virginia -- far from the states from which they were stolen -- after allegedly being stolen by Andrew David Truelove, 28, who believes the school massacre never happened

These signs, stolen about a month ago from two different states, were found in the North Virginia home of Andrew Truelove

Police said Friday that Truelove was arrested at a home in Herndon where he was renting a room, and charged with possession of stolen property, with charges pending in the other states.

An attorney representing Truelove in a separate case did not immediately return a message.

The 50lb vinyl peace sign stolen from Mystic was built in memory of the 20 children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14, 2012, celebrating the life of one of the victims, Grace McDonnell, who had a park named after her.

More horrific than the theft were reports that Truelove ccalled Grace McDonnell's mother and taunted her over the death of her daughter.

Cruel: The space where a peace sign designed by Sandy Hook victim Grace McDonnell hung before it was stolen

Community outrage: The vinyl sign designed by Grace McDonnell before it was stolen

William Lavin, who has been leading the effort to build playgrounds to honor all 26 Newtown victims, told The Day of New London that a man called Grace's mother and told her he took the sign because he believes the December 2012 school shooting was a hoax.

'There's still a lot of ignorance and evil out there that someone could do something like that,' Lavin said Wednesday.

'It's sad there are ignorant people who have to show their hatred in a place that was built by a community that shared and expressed their love for the families in Newtown that witnessed evil.'

Lynn McDonnell was upset after the phone call and worried about how the theft might affect those who helped build the playground, Lavin said.

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Truelove belongs to a group who call themselves 'truthers', who not believe the massacre, took place, according to NBC.

'It's hard to explain the why, because from our perspective it doesn't appear rational, that type of thought process,' Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard said during a news conference Friday.

'We know Sandy Hook occurred, obviously there are a lot of victims in that case. So I can't explain the why, but we do know that this suspect has a troubled past, he has an extensive criminal history, he has criminal history tied to kids.'

School shooting victim: Grace McDonnell died in the Newtown school massacre

Double blow: The theft comes just after a sign in a different playground, one dedicated to Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, was graffitied

Truelove was charged after he contacted a reporter, saying that he had the signs, DeBoard said.

The reporter contacted authorities in Stonington, Connecticut, who reached out to Herndon Police.

After an investigation, authorities obtained a search warrant for Truelove's house in the 400 block of Fillmore Street, and recovered the stolen signs Friday.

'Our main goal here was to get those signs back so they could be placed back on the playgrounds where they belong,' DeBoard said.

Each playground is unique and inspired by the victims it is dedicated to.